A. Quinton — Nov. 3rd 2014

If you thought the departure of Halloween meant an end to trashy horror movies, think again. Joe Avella’s Wheelchair Werewolf is “a comedic homage to 80s horror and sci fi movies… created by a comedian who absolutely loves horror and grew up watching every VHS tape he could get his hands on.” It’s also an excellent reminder to ableist creeps everywhere that use of your legs is not a prerequisite for being a werewolf.

Joe’s releasing one scene each week for two months “to test the waters and see if people would want the full movie”. The first scene is available to watch now, as is a wonderful introduction video from Abbott Educational Industries (progenitors of Entercationalment®). You can sign up for email notifications as each scene is released, and Joe’s planning a limited edition VHS tape to collect all eight scenes with some bonus materials.

The VHS aesthetic is on exquisite tracking-line-mangled display, with sound effects and score to match. The writing and pacing is great – that slow pan to the access ramp sign is perfect, and the way the townspeople condescend to the guy in the wheelchair even when he’s a werewolf is excruciating and sadly probably not that much of an exaggeration. I’ve watched the trailer five times now, and I’m still destroyed by the crowd’s flustered outrage at the suggestion that a person in a wheelchair could be the werewolf (“W-what the HELL, lady?”).